Sticky Situations
by Smileswaves101
Summary: When the Volturi unexpectedly destroy themselves while Chelsea is away talent-scouting, keeping a secret for the Cullens is harder than ever before, especially when you throw a hysterical child, a stray child, a smelly dog and a vampire with more fashion sense than common sense in the mix. Can the Cullens keep their secret? Or will the worlds worst fear come true? R&R.
1. Bella Does PE

Chapter 1

Bella does P.E

Green bay High School.

Only the second high school I'd attended since I was turned into a vampire.

The first high school that made P.E compulsory.

Ugh.

I stepped into the changing room wearily. I had a clean record so far, but my close call 12ish weeks ago had prompted the next big move. It didn't matter if humans knew what we were any more, but it was pretty hard to go to school if your classmates were absolutely terrified of you.

"Bella!" Maddy skipped up to me, bright red curly hair bouncing as she went.

"Hi!" I tried to sound enthusiastic, and it worked.

"Do you like sport?" Maddy asked, pushing her glasses up to the top of her nose.

"It's alright, I guess." I said flatly, trying to ignore my parched throat that burst into flame every time I took a breath.

"I like beach volleyball." Maddy said pompously. "But it's always so cloudy here. It's more fun when the sand is hot, and you have to keep moving around."

"The last time I played volleyball, I got a bleeding nose!" I exclaimed, changing into some inconspicuous black shorts.

"That makes two of us, then." Maddy said cheerfully. "I _always _get a bleeding nose when I do volleyball. I'm not very good at it, no matter how much I like it."

Uh-oh.

That can't be good.

At least the Volturi have ceased to exist- or this might turn bad.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Maddy must of picked up on my sudden frown.

"N-Nothing… I just don't like blood."

"Speaking of blood… have you heard about the triple murder in Orford?"

I shuddered.

_Jasper again._

_We had only been there three weeks, but he hadn't fed once. I guess Lily scraping her knee was a little too much for him._

"Yup. Three elementary school kids. Lily Tupent, Isaac Callum, Eloise Reid. Murdered on a playground on Thursday, 4th February, at 16:03pm, suspected supernatural causes. They were all 3rd grade students at Orford elementary. Their killer disappeared without a trace." I said matter-of-factly.

"I suspect a stray dog- Rottweiler or Staffy, probably." Maddy's brow furrowed, like she was thinking hard. "But I can understand why people suspect werewolves and vampires and stuff. 3 mauled necks is a little… strange, don't you think?"

CRUNCH.

My hand came away from my P.E locker as I examined the damage I had done. The lock was now just a pile of warped metal, the result of being squeezed in my palm like putty.

"BELLA!" Maddy was incredulous. "Did you… just do that?

"Do what?" I asked as innocently as possible.

"Break the-"

"GIRLS!" Mr Brian, our P.E teacher, bellowed. "The boys are waiting for you!"

I use my superhuman speed to my advantage and tied up my last sneaker in a fiftieth of a second, and hurried out.

"Um… gotta go, Mads. See you in the gym." I said sheepishly, hurrying out into the gym at a fast human speed.

"Er…See you!" Maddy waved at me awkwardly.

"Alright, Kiddos." Mr Brian begun. "Today, we'll be playing football in the indoor pitch we have here, since it is raining out."

Oh my god.

Football.

A vegetarian vampire's worst nightmare.

Blood everywhere.

_In control… In control… In control… surely not two accidents in a month…_

"We have mouthguards for each student, as we can't afford a helmet and pads for every student." Mr Brian explained.

No helmets or pads? It was definitely great that the Volturi weren't around anymore.

"I don't like football…" I muttered.

"At all!" I said a little louder.

"What was that, Miss Cullen?" Mr Brian inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh…nothing. I don't like blood…that's all." I mumbled pathetically.

"Well, I hope there will be no broken skin." Mr Brian retorted. "But I can't promise anything. It's a rough game." Mr Brian pouted at the class. "Any more complaints?"

"Bella's locker is broken, Mr Brian." Maddy said softly from behind me.

"And why is that?" Mr Brain snapped at me.

"Um…" Was all I could say.

"Well, I don't know what to do with you, young lady," He sneered. "Why don't you take this home, just as a reminder of your bad behaviour today?"

Mr Brian handed me a pink detention slip.

"Two hour slot, straight after school. Bring your homework." He barked.

Several students recoiled in fright.

"Now… there are 11 players on each team, which means we will be playing 1 game, with 5 subs. You will be in either the red team or the blue team, and which team are in will be indicated by the colour of your mouthguard. The list for the blue team is as follows:

Adriane

Lois

Lu

Bella

Leo

Fraser

Laura

Cody

Isis

Mechaka

Laura W.

Subs:

Alice K.

Brady

I groaned. Maybe if I were sub, there was less of a chance that someone would break skin and find themselves sucked dry.

"Your mouthguard, Miss Cullen?" Brady said to me pleasantly, flashing his best smile.

I rolled my eyes at him. It was normal for humans to find us dazzling.

His face fell as I snatched the little plastic box containing the mouthguard. My initial reaction was to crush the box with my fingers and chuck the mouthguard behind me, but I knew better than to expose myself in front 28 humans. Instead, I gingerly prized the box open with my fingers and popped the mouthguard in.

It took two milliseconds to realise that was a bad idea.

I spat the mouthguard out at vampire speed, but even that wasn't fast enough to save its pitiful little life.

There were puncture marks where my teeth had been, creating a hole in the middle of the flimsy rubber. In addition, my venom had dissolved the edges, creating an I've-got-acid-in-my-mouth effect.

I would definitely have to keep this away from public eye.

I stuffed the remains of my mouthguard in my pocket at human speed, but not before Mr Brian found out what I had done.

"Where is your mouthguard, Bella Cullen?" He asked sharply.

"Uh, I think it broke, Sir." I said lamely, switching to my 'Rosalie' frame of mind and putting on a cute smile.

'Sir' frowned. "Miss Cullen, that rubber was designed so no one could accidentally bite through it." He said tersely. "Are you sure that you just don't want to wear it? That could land you in a double detention, you know."

His false smile was thick with malice, just as his scent was.

Why did he have to pick on me?

I reluctantly pulled the small piece of mouthguard out of my pocket and showed it to Mr Brian, who shook his head in confusion.

"How could this happen, Miss Cullen?" He pressed, in an obviously baffled tone.

"It was already a little broken, Mr Brian." I said innocently.

Mr Brian scrunched his forehead up, trying to fit 2 and 2 together.

"I know you're lying, but-"

"It is possible, Mr Brian." Maddy chimed in. "I saw her crush her locker singlehandedly."

"Impossible!" Mr Brian yelled, echoes bouncing around the gym. "People can't crush steel with their bare hands! What kind of story is this?"

"Mothers have lifted cars to save children," I suggested.

"Not helpful! There was no emergency!" He hollered. "This is just ridiculous. Seriously, Maddy Vale, do you really think Cullen here could smash steel with her bare hands?"

"Well, I definitely saw it, and you can see her locker, as proof."

Maddy folded her arms, pouting. Mr Brian took long strides over to the girls' locker room.

As for I, I was in a mental muddle.

Would I just let these humans betray us?

Would they put the pieces together, and figure out who I was?

Who **we** were?

I flittered along behind the rest of the class, who were eager to find out if I really had the superhuman strength that Maddy had let on.

Stupid Maddy. She had no idea of the danger she was thrusting herself into. Why did humans have to be so… curious?

"This is definitely… off…" Mr Brian's voice trailed off. He knit his eyebrows and pulled his hand through his short, bristly hair.

Maddy lightly tapped me on the shoulder.

"I think you have a little explaining to do, Bella," There was obvious concern in her tone. Just the hint of fear, too. It was nice to know, that through all her betrayal, she _did_ care.

As I peeked over Mr Brian's bulky shoulder, I saw the source of the problem. My handprint was engraved in the steel mess, my uncanny strength permanently etched into property of the school.

"It can't be real… how could Bella do this? Mr Brian's mood changed rapidly from anger to disbelief.

I pushed through the queue of confused students, trying to think of a plan at vampire speed.

But there really was no explanation. The only explanation I had was too kill them all, and that would only make matters worse.

Mr Brian grabbed my wrist and thrust it forward into the handprint. Much to my dismay, it was a perfect match. In addition to my misfortune, my strength caused the locker to also come crashing down, causing some students to let out a soft scream. Mr Brian was staring at me, bug-eyed, but Maddy had her eyes narrowed, and was looking suspicious.

Too suspicious.

"Bella, what do you have for lunch today?" Maddy tipped her head to the side, drumming her fingers impatiently.

"Tomato soup, same as always." I lied casually.

"Hmm. I wonder then, if you would be able to sit outside, in the sun, with me?"

I peeked through the high window of the gym, and to my horror, it had slid out of it's hiding place behind the clouds and the rain, and was now soaking the outdoor eating place in unwanted sun.

Maddy smiled thinly. This time, I knew, that it was I being stupid. I had provided too much evidence that I wasn't human, or not quite. Crushing the locker door with me fist when Maddy mentioned vampires for the first time today. Biting through my mouthguard. Saying I was scared of blood, then saying I had tomato soup for lunch.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid me.

But it was almost as if Maddy was being slightly sadistic. She still believed the more bogus side of vampire folklore; the fact we could burn in the sun.

I'd show her. Maybe that would be enough to quell her beliefs. She already knew far too much.

"Sure!" I replied, sounding as confident as possible.

"Alright, then. Meet me in the cafeteria, lunch hour. The weather is going to be _lovely._" She smiled pleasantly, but her eyes had a slightly evil look to them. I hoped the rest of the class didn't figure my secret out, too.

Mr Brian suddenly cleared his throat.

"Perhaps Bella would like to tell us… how she did this? Maybe give us a demonstration of such strength?

"When hell freezes over," I muttered.

"Do you realise, young lady, what you could achieve with such talent? Such incredible strength?" He blabbered.

"Talent?" I hissed, incredulous. My temper was on the rise.

To my surprise, most of the class remained silent after that.

A good two minutes later, Mr Brian finally broke the silence.

"Well, stuff Bella's incredible strength! Why don't we act like a normal class and continue the lesson until lunch hour?" He bellowed, cracking his knuckles. "And, do you know what? I think we'll leave football, too. We can get out the sponge balls and play dodgeball, instead!"

A few classmates mumbled in agreement. Most of us weren't interested in football.

Maddy looked uneasy, however. In fact, she looked as though she never wanted to be anywhere near me, ever again.

"I hope I won the trip to Florida," She mumbled, supposedly to quiet for me to hear. "Nice and sunny, and no Dracula women."

_Oh, there will be. There's a quadcoven living there, hunting off the backstreets._

"Why don't the blue team go on this side?" Mr Brian pointed to the far left end of the basketball court behind the football pitch. "The red team will be on the right."

I tried to start a conversation with Maddy, as we slowly meandered over, not with much success.

"You're so overly superstitious, you know." I said, pretending to pick my immaculate nails.

"No, I'm not. Humans can't crush steel with their fist, and you know it, Bella." She said stubbornly, sticking her nose in the air.

"There is no rational reason to call me a vampire, either." My lip curled, and it was my turn to stick my nose in the air.

"Yes, there is! You are cold, pale, you never eat anything except 'tomato soup'," Maddy made quotation marks in the air, " You're super strong, and probably fast, too, and you don't want us to spill a drop of blood just in case you bite our pretty little necks!" Maddy screamed, tears pouring down her face.

I made a timid attempt to calm her down, to no avail.

"Maddy, you are over-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Maddy bawled. We had the attention of the whole class, now.

"Jees! What's wrong with Maddy?" Mechaka said angrily in her thick Mexican-Spanish accent.

"She thinks I'm a vampire," I explained calmly.

"You. Killed. Three. Children! CHILDREN!" Maddy roared, and pounced at me clumsily, trying to tackle me to the ground. At that moment, my phone rang.

"BELLA!" Alice screeched into the phone. "GET YOUR BUTT OVER TO THE HOUSE NOW! TELL THE CLASS THAT CARLISLE AND ESME HAVE CRASHED THEIR CAR, AND YOU GOTTA GO!" I imagined Alice turning purple at this. The only time Alice was madder at me was every morning, when I didn't wear clothes with the Alice tick of approval. "BRING THE GIRL WITH YOU, CARLISLE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE HER SOME SHOTS, SO SHE FORGETS TODAY!"

I hung the phone up, replaying Alice's frenzied words over and over in my mind. This would be the second time we'd have to move in a month.

"There has been an emergency. Carlisle and Esme have been caught up in a car crash. I need to go, now." I fibbed quickly.

"LIAR!" Maddy yelled, before collapsing into mirthless sobs.

"Maddy, you're coming with me." I said sternly. "I need to take you to the nurse's office, so you can calm down."

"You're… gonna kill me cause I know too much!" She cried, before falling into another crying fit.

"No deaths, I promise." I said, smiling to myself.

Maddy kicked, punched, and even _bit_ me, so I settled for the classic fireman's hold, hitching her behind my shoulder, as I carried her out of the gym, and into the open sunlight.


	2. Alice attends school photos

Chapter 2

Alice does school photos.

APOV

Life was perfect.

Almost.

My Jasper wasn't at school today, because he still had burgundy eyes, from his 'accident'. Bella and Emmett _shouldn't _have been at school today, because they were in too much trouble for dressing in jeans and a t-shirt!

Gross. Vampires are supposed look good for a reason.

I drummed my fingers on the desk impatiently, tuning in and out of my boring English lesson, catching little bits here and there.

That's also when I got the vision.

_The girl was sticking her nose in the air at Bella. "No, I'm not. Humans can't crush steel with their fist, and you know it, Bella."_

"_There is no rational reason to call me a vampire, either." Bella returned the retort, her lip curled._

"_Yes, there is! You are cold, pale, you never eat anything except 'tomato soup'," She made quotation marks in the air, " You're super strong, and probably fast, too, and you don't want us to spill a drop of blood just in case you bite our pretty little necks!" The girl screamed, tears pouring down her face._

_The class were gathering around, now, very confused looks on their faces._

"_Jees, what's wrong with Maddy?" The Mexican girl said angrily._

"_She thinks I'm a vampire," Bella said surprisingly calmly._

"_She. Killed. Three. Children! CHILDREN!" Maddy tried to fling Bella to the ground, but Bella easily shrugged her off._

I sat bolt upright, the vision ending as quickly as it had begun. I took out my phone from my pocket at vampire speed, using all my control to prevent myself from crushing the cheap Samsung phone to powder, and swiped into the settings to play my ringtone.

"Alice, you shouldn't have your phone out in class, dear!" Mrs Haville called out to me as I ran down the corridor and into the toilets. She was the only high school teacher I knew of so far that called her students 'dear'.

I practically screamed into the phone as loud as I dared, demanding that Bella come home immediately. She needed to take the girl with her, too, because Carlisle might be able to give a jab so she forgets the day's drastic turn of events.

If not, I knew Jasper would calm her down just enough to ensure she wouldn't tell anyone. If he didn't lose control, that was.

I quickly rung the school administration to tell them that Carlisle and Esme had a terrible crash, and I needed to leave, now. I also rang my fellow brothers and sisters, and Carlisle and Esme, telling them to come home as soon as possible, with the car crash excuse.

Then I sped out into the open light, pulling on my rain poncho as I went for protection from the sunlight.

I caught Bella's scent near the tennis court, so that's where I headed. It was 2 seconds until I was beside Bella, who was just standing there, sparkling in the open sunlight.

"You didn't need my clearance, Bella! Just get to the car!" I fumed angrily. "It's not going to be long before people start to come and see what's going on!"

"You!" The 'Maddy' girl squawked. "You are all vampires, aren't you?"

"Calm down, Maddy." I coaxed gently. "You need to relax."

"I'm sick of been told to calm down!" Maddy protested. "No one can calm down when a vampire is about to suck your blood!"

"Shhh. We are not going to suck your blood, but we might think about it if you don't take a chill pill and stop crying like a little baby." Bella snarled.

Maddy let out another wail and continued her protests.

"Let me go! I'll call the police, I swear, they won't like another murder on their hands!"

"Alright. That's it. I'll stick you in our iron maiden, suck you dry, then impale you on a stake, while I drink the blood of your sweetheart, alive!" I teased.

Maddy let out a squeal of sheer terror.

"Alice means it, Maddy." Bella growled. "So you better be quiet."

Maddy's bawling was reduced to a soft whimper just as I pulled my car door open, and thrust Maddy inside.

"Seatbelt." I commanded.

"But-"

"Do as I say, Maddy!" I barked at her like she was a prisoner, something I didn't do very often. I usually tried to make people feel welcome, but this was not the case today. Maddy was simply so stubborn, I had to resort to making her feel threatened.

The ride home was silent. I was still very annoyed with Bella for revealing to the whole class what she was, but something nagged me in the back of my mind, telling me that no one believed Maddy's silly vampire tale except her.

Thank goodness for that.

I didn't really want to move again.

It wasn't until we pulled into the driveway when Bella spoke again.

"I can smell anger on all of them, even Carlisle. I think you're the least angry out of all of them, actually." Bella said fearfully.

"Thank god for my happy nature," I mumbled.

I felt slightly sorry for Bella. Usually she was a nice person, or vampire, rather, and no matter what she did, she didn't deserve to endure one of Rosalie's violent temper tantrums.

Bella walked solemnly up to the front door, with a brooding look to her eyes. The annoying girl kept asking where the human skulls were, her voice, weak from screaming, quivering softly. I scanned the future for police interrogations, a dead Maddy, or us leaving, finding none of the above. Instead, I found myself standing with the kids from my homeroom, smiling for the camera. It could only be one thing.

School photos.

Bella opened the door as slowly as possible, savouring every second of not been shouted at by Rosalie. I silently hoped with Bella that Rosalie would be violent with her words, and not her actions, because we both knew that she was going to be _violent._

And she was exactly that.

"I'M GONNA MURDER YOU, BELLA!" Rosalie roared as soon as Bella walked through the door.

"HOW DARE YOU EXPOSE US! IF THIS HAPPENED THREE MONTHS AGO, WE WOULD ALREADY BE DEAD! HOW DARE YOU CRUSH METAL IN YOUR HAND, IN THE PRESENCE OF A HUMAN!" Rosalie pounced on Bella, teeth gnashing. Maddy screamed, and the sobbing fits began once more.

I watched in awe as Rosalie and Bella wrestled on the ground. Rosalie was going to be violent verbally _and _physically.

"IF THE VOLTURI CAN'T DO THE JOB, I WILL, BELLA! I SWEAR, I WILL!" she boomed, trying to bite Bella's head off.

The rest of the family, including a now VERY angry Edward, tried, and succeeded, to pull Rosalie off Bella. Emmett tried giving Rosalie a kiss, but she pushed him away.

"Don't you DARE touch Bella, Rosalie, or I'll leave you to the werewolves to finish off!" Edward snarled.

"And then you'll kill yourself," Rosalie said, looking a little smug.

"I won't, if that's what makes you happy." Edward retorted.

"Yes, you so will. You can't bear to live without her." She crooned.

"No, I won't!" Edward cried.

"Yes, you will."

"Won't."

"Will!"

"For goodness sake, you two. Can you ever stop arguing?" Esme stepped between Edward and Rosalie, who were in a crouch position, ready to pounce upon each other. "We need to remember why we are here. A human has exposed us, revealing our secret, and when she returns tomorrow to school, she may tell everyone she sees about us. There is only one possible solution…

"You are going to let me live?" Maddy croaked, her hysteria dispersing.

"Yes, we will let you live." Esme said in a hushed tone, staring at the floor.

"But… not with us in your brain." Carlisle appeared from around the corner, brandishing a syringe. Rosalie and Edward disappeared out the door, as did Bella, for they were still in a mood, and didn't want to risk losing control. It was only now that I realised I was so preoccupied with our 'exposure', I hadn't noticed that Jasper wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Where was Jasper when we needed him most?

The scent of freely flowing blood finally caught me, smothering me in a distinctly human smell. I could almost feel my eyes go coal black- and I could tell Emmett was having the same problem; both he and I hadn't hunted in a couple of weeks.

I watched Carlisle silently as he put a small white bandage on the now-unconscious Maddy, and carried her gently to his car.

I got another vision of Carlisle explaining Maddy's wee temper tantrum to her parents, who seemed very ashamed and a bit embarrassed. It was followed by a vision of me being the star of the class for our school photos, wearing my favourite Chanel lingerie. The vision reminded me of Rosalie on a good day- shallow, vain, and craving the centre of attention.

But at least I got to wear a new dress of my taste, without Bella rudely interfering.

"Alice, that is just ridiculous. There is an emergency, and all you can concentrate on is how you look in the school photos?" Edward, who seemed to have cooled down a considerable amount, poked his head through the door.

"Well, we are staying here, as far as my visions can tell." I pouted at Edward, who rolled his eyes.

"I think. Rosalie thinks we should move, of course, but Bella and I think it will be far to suspicious if we just… moved away… when people start asking questions." He explained.

"I agree. Humans almost seem… scatterbrained, when it comes to suspicion. Bella might attract attention for a couple of weeks, but she will be 'been and gone' on the popularity scale by next semester, when Jasper might be of enough self-control to be around people again."

"I should go and see if Bella is alright. Rosalie hasn't stopped shouting at her since we left the house, and it's barely even her fault." Edward winced. He didn't like it when Rosalie, or anyone, was mean to Bella, but Rosalie releasing her full fury on Bella had crossed the line.

I knew he was going to explode at Rosalie before today ended.

I even saw it.

Monday

I was right.

Bella DID attract plenty of attention, and definitely more than enough.

Luckily, it was the admiring sort of attention, rather than the suspicious sort of attention.

"Did you really crush the locker with your fist?"

"Wow, Bella. You are sexy AND strong!"

"Are you cat woman in disguise?"

"Do you have a superhero cape? Can you fly?"

"Were you bitten by a radioactive spider?"

That one made me laugh. The last time I'd heard that, it came _from_ Bella.

But it wasn't until German class, where Bella, Edward and I were lazily filling out our 'German verbs' booklet, I heard the news I really wanted to hear.

"School photos are next Thursday," Mrs Zubereiten informed us with a thick accent. "So dress nicely, because you are all going into the yearbook." Several students groaned, including Bella. "Your homeroom teacher has emailed you with additional details, but I'm just letting you know in advance." She smiled in anticipation and rubbed her hands together. "Now, can anyone translate those sentences into German for me?"

"Its Schule Fotos sind am kommenden Donnerstag, So schön zu kleiden, den Sie sind alle in das Jahrbuch geht.

Ihre Klassenlehrerin hat Ihnen weitere Details per E-Mail, aber ich bin einfach nur dass Sie im Voraus wissen, Mrs. Zubereiten, if I were to translate your first three sentences." I said confidently.

Mrs. Zubereiten looked impressed that I knew.

"Well done, Alice. Have you studied German before?"

"A wee bit, I guess. I've been to Germany a couple of times, though."

"You and Edward should go to the extension class," She mumbled.

I then saw one of the most upsetting visions of my life. It was Thursday- sun was streaming through the clouds, dosing the school in warm, inviting, beams of light.

Thursday.

School photos day.

"Damn!" I suddenly shouted, startling everyone except Edward and Bella.

"Alice, please don't cuss in our class." Mrs. Zubereiten frowned, hard lines of disapproval set in her forehead.

"Sorry. I just remembered… um… something that I forgot to do after school today." I said quietly, staring at the grain on my wooden desk. Edward was shaking his head, smirking to himself.

"You know, I **will** find a way to sneak myself in for school photos, Edward. I'll run so fast no one 'll see me. What's wrong with that?" I whispered to Edward as soon as we left German, half an hour later.

"It's just so silly, Alice. Why do you want to sneak yourself into school on a sunny day, just so you can be part of the homeroom photo? It's absurd."

I scowled at Edward. "Its just… I finally get a chance to make a fashion statement to the school, that's all. "Everyone here has a bad sense of style, including you, Edward. I've fussed over you and Bella for eight years, now, and you deny my only opportunity to make myself a fashion queen? The Volturi are gone now, Edward. There's no one there to kill me if I become America's next top model."

Edward and Bella both burst into laughter as I sulked. Both of them detested my ludicrous fashion ideas.

"Alice," Bella said more seriously. "You shouldn't become a model. You should be a designer, scanning the future for the next hot fashion. You'd be great!" Bella giggled. "But not on Thursday, if it's sunny. You could create rainy day outfits, instead!"

Edward looked sullen. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Bella, love. We need to keep a low profile, so no one starts asking questions. ESPECIALLY after last weeks events. We just need to calm down for a bit, and try not to get too involved in anything. Do you agree, Alice?"

"No." I grumbled. "I'm determined to turn up to school photos, even if you guys don't."

"But Alice, they could be outside!" Bella cried.

"Then let me sparkle."

"Carlisle would never let you do that, Alice."

"I'll talk him into it."

"If somebody else finds out…"

"Then happy early Halloween."

"We'll have to move!"

"No, we won't."

Bella sighed in defeat.

"You know you can't do this, Alice. It's totally unrealistic."

"Is it?" I asked, reaching into my bag for my canteen, trying to get the last drop of Elk blood.

Bella held up her own bottle, which was still ¾ full of grizzly blood. "You can have this, if you stop planning to expose yourself."

"Please don't try bribery, Bella!" I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Please don't!" Bella whined.

"C'mon. Don't you trust me, Bella? I won't do anything too stupid, I promise."

"Of course I trust you, Alice. It's just…"

"That's settled then!" I smiled broadly to Bella. "I'm turning up to school photos on Thursday. I have got biology now, with Emmett and Rosalie, so I'll see you!"

I skipped off to my next class happily as ever.

Life **was **almost perfect.

And one thing was certain.

I _would_ be attending class photos on Thursday.


	3. Alice designs a school uniform

Chapter 3

Alice designs a school uniform

_13th February 2014_

To: Alice345Draculaluva , Eddddward03 , BellaBella4 +26 more…

From: ,

Subject: School photos

Homeroom 3,

School photos are this Thursday in the atrium from 9:10-9:30 am. Dress nicely; you will be on display in the 2014 yearbook. One inside class photo is taken in the atrium; individual outdoor photos are taken behind the atrium near the elementary school.

Regards,

.

Argh!

Why did the individual photos have to be taken outside? I wheeled away from the computer before I could smash the fragile screen to pieces in my frustration.

"Things can't always go as planned, Alice." Edward smirked.

"Aren't you glad that you don't have to be in the spotlight?" Bella teased, chasing me up the stairs to my bedroom.

I sat on my prop bed, my head in my hands. "This was supposed to change my life, Bella! "I could become a fashion superstar, making billions of dollars that we don't even need! It'll be fun, Bella. No more shopping trips- we could make our own clothes!" I said hopefully, clapping my hands together.

"But it will expose us, Alice. Sparkling in the sun in front of 26 humans isn't exactly keeping a low profile." Bella sighed. She hated all the things that me and Rosalie enjoyed- shopping, clothes, parties, being the centre of attention, makeovers, and epic vampire sleepdates that never worked out.

"You're such a tomboy, Bella." I pouted, my bottom lip sticking out.

"But surely, people would start wondering if we randomly started to sparkle! This is just sooooo stupid, Alice. Everyone would figure out what we are, then, BAM! Everyone in the school is having a Maddy-like temper tantrum." Bella tried to clarify to me, but I knew she was in no position to do anything, after _her_ little incident last week.

"Get your facts right, Bella! Vampires burn in the sun, not sparkle. We can probably pass it off as a rare skin condition." I whined.

"But… Alice, won't it be kind of suspicious if all of us have this rare skin condition?" Bella inquired.

"Well… you didn't want to do it, five seconds ago. If only I go, it won't be suspicious at all!" I harrumphed, folding my arms.

"But, it might be all they need before they have an epiphany, and realise what we are…" Bella's protests were getting weaker and weaker. By Thursday, I knew I was going to get my way.

"Bella," I said sternly. "There are humans alive that burn when they touch water. I'm serious; they get big, red, welts on their skin upon contact. They can't go swimming, or even have a shower, just as we can't go in the sun in front of humans!" I cried. "If their condition is real, why isn't ours?"

"Alice." Bella responded seriously, rising up onto her toes so she was towering over me. "That story has been warped and twisted, destroyed…" Bella plucked my old phone off my bedside table and crushed it to powder in her fist, "By rumours. Now, the tale is, when those people touch the water, they turn into mermaids. What if they take sparkling in the sun the same way, except with a vampiric twist?" Bella flashed her perfect teeth at me, hissing.

"I doubt they will. There isn't any legend to prove that vampires sparkle in the sun," I said, shaking my head.

"Alright." Bella sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. "You have my clearance, but you still have the Rosalie obstacle to tackle." She smiled sardonically. "Good luck."

I inhaled for the first time in 10 minutes, taking in the sweet air around me. I could smell my freesias on my bedside table, Rosalie's motor oil, Bella's defeat, and Esme's irony as she put another batch of garlic bread in the oven to donate to the local kindergarten.

And then there were the male smells. I could smell Edward's scent fresh on the piano- he was playing a sad, mourning tune for Bella, who was currently in a mood. I could smell Jacob's putrid dog smell on the loveseat with Nessie, who was curled up in his chest, sleeping. Emmett was playing _Minecraft _on his x-box with Jasper. Carlisle was pouring over his latest medical textbook on Rheumatology.

I quickly scanned the future for any arguments, but it was pretty blurry with Jacob around.

I took a deep breath.

Interrogation time.

"You're really not going to give up, are you?" Edward asked, giving me a lopsided smile. Bella was curled up behind him, carefully massaging his back.

You didn't have to be Jasper to know she was in a bad mood.

"She'll be careful." Bella grumbled.

"You have to let me, Edward." I pleaded. "Everyone else did. The pressure is on."

"Pressure schmessure." He muttered.

"Please?"

"I don't know, Alice. I really don't know. It's a stupid idea, exposing yourself to everyone in the world for no reason at all."

"But there is a reason!" I moaned. "I want to start my own clothing line. Maybe if I can express myself through the school photos, it'd be easier to gain popularity!"

"Alice, is popularity what you really want?" Edward exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, Edward, it is. And you can't deny my right to go to the school photos any more!" I had the burning desire to stick my nose in the air and prance off, but I decided against it.

"Ok, then. Just don't do anything to reckless or stupid." "Ow!" Bella had hit Edward on the arm playfully, and was now howling with laughter.

I left before they started to take their clothes off.

The next days at school were pretty much normal. I was eagerly anticipating the school photos- that was going to run 7 minutes behind time. Edward and I managed to land us in the Extension German class- an offer that Edward politely turned down, so he could be with Bella.

Best of all, Jasper's eyes were turning gold again, and his control was slowly returning, so he would probably be back at school by the end of the semester.

Finally, after what seemed like 1 million years, Thursday came along. I fast ordered a big, pink, poofy dress from France for the photos, with matching shoes and the same shade of lipstick to complete the look. Now, I was examining my self in the mirror, turning from side so I could see how every inch of the dress looked on me.

I had to admit, I looked stunning. Every fold of the dress exaggerated the few curves I had, and it was almost as if the dress enhanced the sparkles on my skin. The lippy and shoes looked perfect, too.

"I'm ready!" I warbled happily as I skipped out into the lounge.

"You look wonderful, dear!" Esme trilled.

Edward and Bella muttered something like; "Overconspicuous."

"Carlisle has rung the school to tell them about your 'medical condition' so you won't have to worry too much about overexposure." Esme told us.

"I've fixed up your Porsche, Alice." Rosalie stepped into the house in her working overalls, motor oil all over her face and hands.

"Thanks, Rose! I owe you one!" I said brightly.

"Good luck," Rosalie replied.

I ran out of the house at vampire speed towards my beloved Porsche. I hadn't taken it to school before, as we usually took Edward's new Aston Martin.

I always got a thrill when I drove my favourite car in the world. I could run much faster, of course, but there wasn't the same feeling of wind rushing through the windows, snow and rain lashing your face as you picked up speed.

Today, however, I drove unusually slowly, savouring the look of my diamond skin, sparkling brightly in the sun.

I pulled into the school parking lot carefully, pretending to avoid my tens of gawking fans, crowding around my car, trying to reach through the open window to touch my sparkling skin.

"Alice, I mean, wows. How come your skin sparkles so much?"

"This is the new fashion. Who did your plastic surgery?"

"Is this why you guys never come to school on sunny days? Are you embarrassed of your super-sexy skin?"

"You almost look like you're burning. All you need are some fake fangs, red contacts, and a black shawl to complete the look."

I swivelled my head abruptly to the right at that comment. It was from Maddy, the screaming girl. She was holding her head in her hands, like she had forgotten something.

"Hmm…" She mumbled. "I feel deja vu when I'm talking about vampires, like I've run into one in my dreams…" Roars of laughter from Bella's gym class interrupted Maddy. I remembered my vision of Maddy's 'discovery' temper tantrum and shuddered- what a close call that had been.

"Actually, it's an extremely rare skin condition I was born with, that makes my skin sparkle in the sun. It's called _nitorem cutis,_" I explained.

"Wow. How rare, exactly, is this skin condition?" One boy asked.

"I dunno," I lied. "But I haven't met anybody with the same disorder, yet."

"Homeroom 4?" A short woman with a clipboard beckoned us over. "Come on up, please. Short goes at the front, tall at the back. Sparkly, you'll go over here, please." The woman grabbed my arm with surprising force, for a human, and led me to the middle of the front row.

This continued on and on until all twenty-nine of us were in the correct spots, putting on our best fake smiles. I wasn't sparkling anymore, for we where in the hall, now.

"Ok. One, two, three." The short lady took a shot, the flash blinding the humans for half a second.

"Wonderful." She said flatly. "And again. One, two, three."

"That's over!" The little woman sounded relieved. "All I need to do now is take a picture of my seven-year-old daughter! The lady breathed.

"Good luck with that!" Sniggered one of the boys.

Ignoring the rude boy, she shuffled off to validate the photo.

I bounced gracefully off my stand, dancing my way to the queue for the individual photos. As soon as I stepped outside, boys, and girls alike started to gawk.

I guess I really was weird.

When it was my turn to get my photo taken, the old man at the camera tutted with disapproval.

"What types of cosmetics make todays' teens look like that? It's simply ridiculous. We will all have sparkly skin, soon." He muttered, fumbling with the massive camera, which was now tilting perilously on the edge of its tripod.

"Would you like me to help?" I smiled sweetly.

The camera landed on the ground with a resounding thud, causing everyone from the queue to crowd around the damage.

"I'm so sorry!" The man said, almost half-heartedly.

"Really, it's alright." I said pleasantly, lifting the camera back onto its tripod. It had a few scratches, but was all right, otherwise.

"You'd better smile, then." He grumbled.

I showed my best smile, watching the camera as it flashed brightly for a split second.

"Perfect," The man said, inspecting the photo on the camera screen. "Next!"

I skipped into the open air, and punched Mrs Haville's number into my phone, quickly explaining that I wouldn't be here for the rest of the day, because we had a family reunion in Canada, and we were due at the airport in a couple of hours. It was a pretty good cover story, because I knew the teachers were getting sick of the 'camping' excuse. I quickly scanned the future for any major turn of events, but found nothing. No one even came close to discovering what I was, Maddy included.

I then rang the Cullen home number, only to find an overly sour Rosalie on the other end of the line.

"Alice," Rosalie addressed me bitterly.

"It all went fine, Rose." I breathed.

"No discoveries, then?" Rose answered, trying to hide her relief.

"No, not as far as I can see," I replied.

"Excellent!" Rosalie chimed, the mood lightning considerably. "Me and Bella have a surprise for you,"

"Ooh, I like surprises!" I trilled, wondering what Bella and Rose might of gotten up to.

"Well, I'm not telling now, because it's a surprise," Rosalie said.

"Be home in 5," I replied, flipping my phone shut.

I raced to my car, slamming the door closed as hard as I dared, causing it to shudder and groan. I had kicked the engine up, and was speeding one hundred miles down the freeway, when I heard an 'oy!'

I pulled over in a shady spot in the trees, and watched as the Police car slowly chugged in my direction.

Uh-Oh.

I didn't see this coming.

"Why were you going a hundred miles per hour in a school zone?" The officer barked.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I guess I was just a little over excited." I hung my head, pretending to be ashamed.

"You don't even look old enough to drive," he said gruffly.

I wordlessly pulled out my fake licence and handed it to the policeman.

"Teenagers these days." The man muttered. "You're gonna have to take this home, if that's alright. This is a school zone, young lady." He tapped his fingers impatiently, shaking his head.

"Ok. Thank you very much." I said politely, putting my window up again.

"See, you!" He bellowed. "Stay safe!"

I drove back to the house, feeling slightly annoyed. Why did a stupid policeman have to step in and muck everything up?

Sometimes, half-life was just so unfair.

"Do you like it?" Rosalie had dressed a wooden bust in a pretty red-and-white checked dress.

"Oh, Rose, it's wonderful!" I skipped up to hug Rosalie. "I can't believe you found my journal! This uniform was intended for Forks High! But it would look so good at this school, too!"

"I'm glad you liked it, Alice. Did I make it how you would have wanted me too?" Rosalie's brow furrowed with mock concern.

"Yes! It's really perfect! If only we could actually wear this uniform! Rosalie…"

"But we are NOT." Bella made an entry, taking long, purposeful strides up to the bust at human speed. "I really can't believe I got tangled up in this, Rose." Bella breathed a long, heavy sigh, putting her head in her hands.

"But you found the journal, Bella!" Rosalie squealed. "You're a genius!"

"Agreed." I replied. "I haven't felt so happy in a long time, and I am almost always happy, Rose."

"Anything to make the fortune teller happy," Bella mumbled.

"Please don't be like that, Bella!" I whined. "We all know the world revolves around fashion and shopping."

Rosalie burst into laughter, but Bella just stood there, pouting.

"Edward." Bella muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "Jasper and Emmett."

Bella only stuck her tongue.

Life was good.

After all, it had to be, if the Volturi weren't around.

All that I had to do now was bring Jasper back into my school life.

Then, the puzzle would be complete.


	4. Jasper takes history

"Are you sure you are ready to go back, Jazz?" Alice stood up on her tiptoes, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"You haven't seen anything, have you?" I ran my hand through her short, spiky hair lovingly.

"No… but you're making me concerned. No elementary kids this time, please?" Alice asked sweetly, slipping my biology textbook into my bag, relishing the way the zipper clacked against the metal.

Brittle, fragile metal… I could escape this life in a single thrust of my hand…

But then there was Alice.

"Stay safe!" Alice blew me a kiss. "I'm in all of you're classes, except Graphics and media, but you'll have Edward and Bella to look after you." Alice smiled my favourite smile, and disappeared onto the school bus.

School bus…

"Oy, Jasper!" Emmett hollered, waving his hands in the air. "Come ride with the cool dudes!" Jacob, Nessie, Edward and Bella were sitting in Emmett's 'normal' car, the brand new Holden that already reeked of werewolf mechanic.

"With the dog?" I scoffed.

"Oh, come on, dude! You'll get over it! Life isn't perfect, ya' know." Emmett bellowed.

I reluctantly slid in beside Edward, who was emanating uncharacteristic waves of playfulness as he played 'bite my neck' with Bella.

"It's biology class, you lose ten points of control…"

"Charlie comes over…"

"Paper cut…"

"Sadistic vampire…"

"I.V tube…"

Bella mockingly snarled, and leaped on Edward, going for the classic 'Dracula' look, but instead smothering him in kisses.

"Aw, you lost again, Bella, and you've only been a vampire for 9 years." Emmett crowed from the front seat.

"Shall we play again?" Bella crooned, delicately stroking Edward's chin.

"No!" I shouted, my temper rising. "I don't want to lose control, not again."

Bella and Edward both growled, clawing the bottom of their seats, and I realised I had been projecting waves of anger.

"Sorry, guys." I said meekly. "But, it is just not helping."

"Apologies, Jasper." Edward said ashamedly. "We were just having a little fun."

:

:

:

"But Jasper, it's so cute!" Bella exclaimed, jumping out of her seat a little faster than necessary. "It reminds me of our old cottage in Forks! Oh gosh, Esme would love to do it up…"

I glanced out the window at the unsightly school. Its crumbling mortar walls rose into the heavy clouds like a box, casting a dark shadow across the overgrown lawn. A faded sign, pathetically welcoming the 398 students who came to this school, stood alone beside a wrought-iron front gate.

Not so cute looking in my opinion.

"Aw, man!" Emmett called from the front seat, promptly ignoring my complaints. "It looks like a normal school inside, I promise!"

"_And_ it's on the same campus as the elementary school," Bella added, like that resolved the situation.

"Actually Emmett, I'm trying not to think about inside," I said truthfully.

Inside…

"It's ok, Major," He replied, reaching over to pat me on the shoulder. "Sometimes I feel the same way."

"Momma! We're here!" Nessie squealed, unbuckling her seatbelt. "You'll have to show uncle Jazz around!" She threw the door open at vampire speed.

_The scent…_

A gust of wind brought the smell of four hundred humans my way.

_Resist… thirst…_

I could hear the others calling my name. Nessie was shrieking, Bella and Edward were growling, Jacob snarling…

"Jasper!" Alice's arms flew around me, bringing me back to my senses. I clamped my hand over my nose, staunching the scent immediately.

"You'll be alright. No one gets hurt, and that's the main thing." Alice whispered into my shoulder, worry in her tone.

"Alice?" I asked, eager to know what was wrong. "Are you really sure?"

"Yes…" Her voice trailed off. "It's Charlie."

"Who?" I gasped. "Surely not…"

"He wants to fly down and visit Bella." Alice explained. He's keen to see her. It's been a year since."

"But Charlie will mean Sue, and she'll mean…"

"No, she's just bringing Seth," Alice cooed. "Charlie still doesn't know the secret, and we'd like to keep it that way. But, you never know, that just might not be possible."

RINNNNNNGGGGG!

"Damn. I'd better go, Alice. See you soon!" I waved goodbye to Alice, jogging through the front doors, and into the student office.

"Mr Hale?"

A kindly looking woman with rich red hair and thick glasses was waiting at the front desk, holding my timetable in her hand.

"I'm Sandra Vale, but most people call me Sandy. I double as the vice principal, so feel free to ask me any questions about the school." She said, pressing my timetable into my hand.

I glanced at it briefly- there was nothing new to see, so I slipped it into my pocket.

"Now, we have a small problem with your schedule, Mr Hale," Sandy said, straightening her glasses. "Advanced trigonometry is full, so we have to swap you to either medical science, or history."

Medical science.

_Blood…_

"I'll take history, thank you," I said a little to quickly, bouncing out of my seat to gather my stuff. I noticed Alice standing in the door, and judging from the blank expression on her face, she was probably having another vision.

"Goodbye, Jasper." Mrs Vale hastily waved at me as I walked swiftly out the door, moving her files back onto her desk.

"Alice, what did you see?" I asked, putting my arm around her shoulders.

If Alice was human, she would of gone pale.

"You know, medical science is studying human anatomy this semester." Alice said.

"What are you trying to suggest?" I wondered aloud, a little bit puzzled by her reply.

"History, Jasper!" Alice yelled, alarmed. "History is doing vampires this semester! You have to change!"

"What?" I yelled, incredulous. "We'll have to move! Even if I don't take the class, they'll figure out what we are, soon enough, anyway!"

"Same as before, Jasper. It's too suspicious if we move as soon as the unit on vampires starts. People would _definitely _figure out what we are. Why don't we just chill, Jazz?

"We should act like the Volturi are still here," I murmured gravely. "They may have been mean, but they set guidelines, and had rules. Now there are no rules, only anarchy. I bet you anything, in the next year, there will be breaking news: _VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES DEEMED EXISTANT! _And then, we will have to do everything, and I mean _everything,_ to keep our secret, Alice."

"Too bad they destroyed themselves." Alice mused.

"_Not _too bad!" I growled. "Alice, we can't live knowing that at any moment, of any normal day, our cover might be blown by some overzealous newborn!" My temper was rising again, but my Alice was practically radiating waves of calm.

"We're already late for first period," Alice stated. "Which for you is history."

History…

:

:

:

"I read Alice's thoughts," Edward explained, once I'd settled into history class. "We didn't want you to be in here alone, so Bella and I swapped, to keep an eye on you."

Bella? Keep an eye on me? I felt ashamed that I had a nine-year-old vampire to protect me.

"She's never tasted human blood before, not including the pregnancy," Edward said, reading my thoughts. "You have a disadvantage, Jasper."

"Actually, that's not quite true, Edward," Bella interjected. "I'm pretty sure, when I was little I fell over and bit my tongue, and got a mouthful of blood." Bella continued, making Edward burst into laughter.

"Hey, are you guys listening?" The history teacher stood at the front of the room, impatiently tapping the whiteboard with his pen. "I know some of us are new, but we still need to pay attention, please." He said gruffly. "Now. Could we please all turn to page 118, _traits of a vampire_?

I wordlessly turned to the required page, still without taking a breath. In fact, I hadn't been breathing since I had got out of the car, and was proud of myself for maintaining control.

I didn't even allow myself a shallow breath.

The results were unpredictable.

"Jasper Hale, we have focus problems, don't we?" The history teacher tutted. "You need to know this stuff for the semester. "If you don't listen, a vampire might come down the chimney and suck your blood."

That's funny. And ironic. And cannibalism.

"Alright. So, traits of a vampire." He started. "Can anyone name any? I think we'll start with you, Miss Cullen." He said, pointing to Bella.

"Well… they sleep in coffins…" Bella paused for a moment, and then in a lower, quicker voice, mumbled: "Throw the humans off scent, guys."

Edward and I smirked simultaneously at Bella's choice of words.

"And… they burn in the sunlight…" Edward continued.

"Have pointed fangs…" I added.

Unfortunately, the humans wanted to confirm the details that _were _true.

"They suck blood…"

"Red or black eyes…"

"Pretty…"

"Strong…"

"Fast…"

"Pale…"

Everyone was looking at Bella now, who's eyes had turned black, not with hunger, but with worry. Even these pitiful little humans could remember back to last semester, when Bella had displayed her extraordinary feat of strength on her P.E locker, triggering a violent temper tantrum from one of Bella's classmates.

"Could Maddy be right?"

"Tomato soup…"

Suddenly Edward's eyes widened with fright. "Jasper! Get out of here! Someone's trying to cut themselves!"

I wheeled out of the classroom without a second thought.

"You are a highly superstitious bunch of classmates," Bella spat.

Instinctively, I pressed my ear against the bathroom wall, even though I could hear her perfectly, anyway.

"Ptttsh." The history teacher scoffed. "Vampires are fake, but the folklore is real."

"We still have to try," said one boy.

"And do what?" Edward growled. "Get yourself killed?"

"Ha, Ha, Ha. Very funny!" The boy said sarcastically.

That's when I took a breath.

Suddenly, the world exploded around me.

There was no word to explain how hard it was to not go running down the corridor, back into the classroom. I watched my eyes quickly turn to black in the mirror, the sweet aroma of flowing blood taking over my senses, smothering me like a thick, sweet blanket. I quickly held my breath, but the smell still lingered on my tongue, begging me to satiate my thirst.

"Jasper?" Bella called weakly, emanating waves of queasiness.

"Bella! What happened?" I shouted, puzzled why she was feeling sick at all.

"I. Just. Ate. A. Garlic. Stick!" Bella gagged, flinging open the door into the girl's bathroom.

"You WHAT?" I yelled.

My only response was Bella regurgitating poisoned garlic bread in one of the cubicle toilets.

"That's really off-putting, Bella." I said jokingly.

"Good for you," Bella replied, back to her normal bell-voice. "My throat's burning."

"We better go back to history. Edward's probably hysterical." I mumbled.

"More than that," Bella laughed. "He'll probably think I'm dead!"

RINNNNNNNGGGGGGG.

"Damn." Bella cursed, checking her watch. "I guess we owe Mr Bowes an apology. _He's _probably hysterical."

"Not as much as confused," I said, taking in the waves of confusion coming off the poor man.

"Bella. Bella!" Edward was running down the corridor towards me, his arms open wide. "Are you all right? That must have tasted like sand."

"If vampires could die from eating human food, then surely I'd be dead by now." Bella smiled at Edward, who started kissing her profusely. I swiftly looked away.

"But no one thinks you're a vampire anymore." Edward mumbled.

"No. One garlic stick changed everything." Bella agreed.

"Alice," Edward whispered to me. As if on cue, my phone buzzed.

"Hi," I breathed.

"Jasper, it's bad." Alice said seriously.

"Oh, no! What is it, Alice? Something to do with Bella?" I said, unable, and unwilling, to hide my concern.

"It's Charlie. He'll be here tomorrow, at 6:30." Alice said.

"WHAT?" Many human students flinched, looking my way. "Does… Does he know?"

"I don't know," Alice admitted. "Seth was with him, remember?"

"This is really bad, Alice. I mean, he's a policeman! He'll tell the world!" I sputtered.

"That's when we thank our lucky stars the Volturi for their anger management issues."

"This is bad, Alice. Very bad." I said glumly.

Silence.

"Well, what are we going to do about this?" I demanded.

"That's the problem, Jasper." Alice said, defeated. "I have no idea."


	5. AN

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**I am so sorry to my, like, one follower, that I am taking so long to get the next chapters up, but my life has been more chaotic than it was when I started writing this story in the holidays, and I am finding it hard to squeeze writing into my schedule along with all this homework.**

**The next chapter will be up in a couple of days, I promise. It's probably going to be a bit shorter than the other ones.**

**Regards, **

**Smiles**


	6. BONUS CHAPTER

**BONUS CHAPTER**

**A/N: We all like those 'Charlie knows' stories, and I like Charlie's varying reactions. What reactions will he have in my story? Read and find out. Don't forget to review! I don't own twilight, by the way.**

BPOV

"Bella?" Worry lines crossed Dad's face, making him look even older than before. He was always looking old these days, of course, he was almost sixty.

I couldn't bear the thought of him dying in just a couple decades.

"Yes?" I said shakily, trying to sound like my normal human self, but instead sounding like a pealing bell.

"Can I… speak to you in private for a few minutes?" Charlie grabbed a fresh blueberry muffin off the dining table, taking long strides over to my prop bedroom. I noticed he was glancing down at my wrist, trying to get a glimpse of the crescent-shaped scar, which was currently obscured by a bulky watch of Emmett's- the one I always wore when Dad was around.

"Sure, Dad!" I tried to sound confident, but succeeded only in looking incredibly sheepish.

Dad eyed me suspiciously, and continued up the stairs into my room, which thankfully didn't have the usual plethora of ripped clothes everywhere, courtesy of Alice. He plonked himself down on my bed, and looked me straight in the eye, giving me his intimidating Chief-policeman look.

"Hey, Bells," He started nervously, glancing at the floor.

"Dad?" I replied politely, trying to make it look like I was twiddling my thumbs.

"Bella," Dad started, "I… want to talk about the scar on your wrist," he stuttered, reaching out to take my hand. "I've been… thinking about it for the last couple of months, and wondering how it really happened."

"I tripped…um… fell down the stairs… and… through a window." I lied as smoothly as I could, but even as a vampire, I was a terrible liar.

"No, you didn't," Charlie said stubbornly, sitting bolt upright and folding his arms. "Bella, I just want to know if… well, if, he's… been treating you alright, Bella." He continued. "Because if he hasn't, you could tell me, you know. I _am_ chief police, still."

"Dad, Edward would never hurt me." I said solemnly, flicking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Then, what?" Dad demanded. "Who did this to you? Did… Jacob hurt you?"

I heard a low growl coming from the kitchen area.

"I'm pretty sure if Jacob hurt me he would already be werewolf chow." I snickered. "Edward is protective, not abusive, Dad."

"I still don't think you fell down the stairs," Dad said stubbornly.

I inhaled deeply, which was actually really stupid, because I was alone in a room with a human, and willed myself to tell the truth.

Tell the policeman about the vampires.

"Fine." I spat. "It's a _bite."_

"WHAT!" Charlie yelled, incredulous. "Who did this to you? If Jacob-" Charlie jumped off my bed, his face going purple with rage.

"Does it really look like a werewolf bite?" I asked sardonically. "Dad, Jacob wouldn't dare hurt me."

"Then… what?" Charlie sat down again, his face going from purple to cherry red in seconds.

"Dad, do you remember when I left Forks? Like, out of the blue? I just stormed into the house and demanded I was leaving?"

Charlie frowned. "Of course, Bella. I would never forget."

"Dad…" I paused, trying to remember the fuzzy, broken memory. "Someone… _Something _was chasing me across the country, to Phoenix."

Charlie exploded with rage again, his face quickly retaining its purple colour. "WHO?" Charlie shouted at the top of his lungs, making me, and every other vampire in the house cover their ears. "THEY NEED TO BE BEHIND BARS! NO ONE CHASES _MY _ DAUGHTER ACROSS THE COUNTRY!" Charlie stopped, catching his breath. "Oh, Bella! I'm so sorry!" "You could of told me… I could at least of dealt with the idiot."

I smirked, and put my palm in the air to pause Dad's lecture.

"Dad," I said softly. "It wasn't like that. "He had more… _paranormal _intent."

"Meaning what?" Charlie hedged.

"Meaning… I was the meal."

Charlie gasped. "Was he another werewolf?"

"No," I whispered. "He wasn't a werewolf."

"Then what?" Dad asked, narrowing his eyes at me. "Was he some kind of… cannibal?" Dad popped his last bit of blueberry muffin in his mouth. Chewing it almost methodically. "Or, like, Dracula? Honestly Bella, this is ridiculous."

"Dad, Can you keep a secret?"

"Probably." Dad said matter-of-factly. "Depends on the secret."

"Can I trust you?" I continued.

"You can tell me," Dad replied.

"Dad, will you believe anything after Jacob phased in front of you?"

Dad only nodded.

"Alright." I exhaled, pushing Charlie's scent out with all my might. "James, the one tracking me," I stopped. I wasn't sure if I could trust Dad in keeping the most important secret in the world. "Dad, are you sure you aren't hungry?"

"Keep going, I've just had a blueberry muffin. Besides, I never see you eat!" Dad urged.

I gulped, fidgeting with my hair. Could I really leak to a _policeman _that my attacker was a sadistic vampire?

Probably not.

_You don't have to do this, _a small voice inside my head chided. _Humans are curious and imaginative, naturally._

"Dad-"

"Spit it out, Bella!" Charlie ordered, his temper rising for the umpteenth time.

"Alright." I said lifelessly, hanging my head. "My pursuer… he was… oh," I gasped, slightly surprised that I had splintered the bedframe with the palm of my hand in my anxiety, causing a plume of feathers appear out of my duvet with a little _poof. _The bedframe creaked unhealthily, and I arose from the bed and backed against the wall before I could do any serious damage. Unfortunately, I backed into our mirror, and it fell on the floor with a resounding crash, glass shards flying everywhere.

"Clumsy, Clumsy, Bella." I summarised, flopping to the floor, solely to appear more human. "Ouch."

I did a quick scan of the room; glass shards were everywhere, but not on Charlie, thankfully. Dad's face was alight with a mix of anger and confusion, and he stood up, wheeling out the door. I was thankful, just for a moment, that Dad had disappeared, but it all went away three seconds later, when, Charlie re-entered the room, tailed by Carlisle, Jacob, Nessie and Edward.

"Tsk, Tsk, Bella." Carlisle tutted, studiously kneeling down to attend to my 'cuts'. "Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy."

Edward, as he always did, was fretting about my safety, but as usual, it was only because Dad was visiting, and whenever he was around, I had to act as clumsy as possible, so Charlie wouldn't ask questions.

Dad, however, was fuming. He was pacing around the room, and his face had retained that awful beetroot colour.

"This is hopeless!" Charlie fumed. "Why am I being kept in the dark here? For nine and a half years, it's been almost as though Bella has kept some big secret from me!" He paused, clenching his hands into fists. "But, it's not just Bella. Now that I'm engaged to Sue, I feel as though she's been keeping me in the dark, too!" Charlie yanked open the door of Edward and I's closet with such force, that the handle smashed against the wall, creating a good-sized dent.

A photo album also fell to the floor.

And not just a photo album.

It was the photo album I got from Mum and Dad for my eighteenth birthday, the one with all the photos with from Forks High School.

It was also the one with all the pictures of me as a newborn.

"You kept this?" Charlie asked, calming down marginally. Then he grinned at me, malice in his eyes. "Well, I might be able to uncover some secrets about you, if you're not willing to tell me."

"Go ahead." I encouraged. It was too late to hide anything now.

"Hmm… Interesting, Bella. You've cut yourself out in all these early photos."

"Because I looked so ugly!" I exclaimed. I _did _look ugly. Especially to my highly refined vampire eyes, and my now stunning beauty.

Charlie grew silent after that, intently flipping through photo after photo. There were a few of the 'dark days' without Edward, of Jacob and I on the beach. Me on my motorbike. Jacob and I in his garage together.

Edward let out a low growl, and Jacob looked overly happy, and rubbed Nessie on her shoulder. Thankfully, Nessie understood the love triangle thing between Edward, Jacob and I, and didn't think it offensive that her fiancée had dated her mother.

Then Charlie flipped to the slightly more dangerous pages. Luckily, there was cloud cover in the picture of Edward in the meadow, a few days before my _first _graduation. He turned to the page of the graduation day, the photo of me stumbling and tripping my way to my first diploma, garbed in the ridiculous yellow gown that I could barely remember.

Next were the wedding photos. In these ones, I was beautiful, even if I was still human. Charlie tutted, mumbling something about 'us being still together'. The wedding pictures turned into honeymoon photos, too-bright pictures of me snorkelling, sunbathing, playing chess in the sand, among the other fun things that we did before I became heavily pregnant with Nessie.

Charlie then let out a wee gasp. He had flipped to the only photo of me pregnant, aside from the honeymoon photos. I had surprised myself by not ripping it out, because I looked a thousand times more awful in this photo than any of the others I _had _torn out.

Dad suddenly became very annoyed. A vein stuck out on his forehead, and his heartbeat increased slightly.

"He wants to know when you got pregnant," Edward whispered in my ear.

"WHAT was that?" Charlie demanded. "How…"

"Turn the page," I instructed calmly.

The final pages were of Nessie and I. The first picture was of me by myself, a few days after I'd 'died'. My glowing crimson eyes shone right out of the page, my hair was silkier, and my lips were fuller, but very pale, so I was wearing bright red lipstick, as always.

Charlie gasped and suddenly appeared to be very frightened, flipping through the pages a bit more quickly.

Me jumping out a window.

Baby Nessie and I.

Nessie hugging Jacob, the giant russet-furred werewolf.

A six-year-old lookalike, Nessie, playing the violin.

Nessie graduating from high school.

Me skydiving.

Charlie knows.

And, boy, he is angry.


	7. Emmett plays Flappy Bird

**Emmett plays Flappy Bird**

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight. **

**I'm so sorry for the four people who had to wait for this story's next chapter, I'll try not make it happen again. It's the holidays now, so I hope to update a bit more frequently.**

**Don't forget to review! (Even negative reviews **_**almost **_**make me feel good! :D :D :D)**

"He told the world?" Bella hedged, sounding desperate.

"No." Alice affirmed, sounding like Jane, the stupid _dead _pain-inflictor who used to be part of the Volturi.

But now the Volturi were dead.

I remembered Alice's vision she had willingly shared with us. The flames, the acrid purple smoke, Aro's head on a plate.

Not _literally _on a plate, of course. But the bullying prick was wanted dead for over 3000 years, and if all those zealous little human-eaters had known, I'm sure all their petty little thoughts would be bent on world domination.

"Then, who did he tell?" Bella whined.

"Oh, no one." Alice trilled, looking immensely pleased with herself. "Just the whole of Forks."

Bella growled, crouching into the 'pounce' position. "THAT was out of character!" She grumbled, pointing to Alice with her index finger. "I thought you'd be hysterical!"

"I did too," Alice remarked cheerfully. "But, I decided it's probably a good thing. Now the reservation doesn't have to keep anymore stupid secrets." Alice frowned. "But, Charlie made them promise that they wouldn't tell ANYONE that vampires actually existed, ESPECIALLY if they lived in Seattle. He said he didn't want another crisis, similar to nine years ago," Alice explained. " I think it will be alright. Honestly."

"You _think_?" Bella cried, anguished. "What if, everyone at school tomorrow brings along garlic and wooden stakes, just because Dad leaked the news? Jasper doesn't need another terror overload," Bella protested.

Alice only shook her head. "I can see barely anything with Nessie practicing her instruments just next door," She sighed. "But we can _hope_."

I scoffed, returning to the living room from my place in the kitchen doorway, plonking myself on one of our many la z boys, trying to fight my laziness and turn my _Minecraft _on. I lost the battle, and instead lay my head on my chair, moaning.

I felt about as exhausted as a vampire could get.

:

:

:

"That's unlike you, Emmett! You're usually so energetic! What's happened?" A teasing voice came from the other side of the room, interrupting my blocky daydreams, snapping me 'awake' again. His bronze hair was tangled and matted, and his shirt crumpled, although free of any blood, a definite sign that he'd been hunting.

"So, you still haven't killed anybody for twenty years? Have you kept that streak, Eddie?" I shot back.

Edward frowned, ignoring his least favourite nickname. "I killed Bella," He said gravely.

"Still worried about that, are ya, Eddie?" I said jokingly, rolling my eyes. "You selfless _monster_."

Edward growled, but I knew he knew better than to throw me across the room. I used this opportunity to charge at him, at vampire speed, and send him crashing through the wall.

"You could of told me you wanted to fight!" Edward grinned sardonically. "But, we can take it outside, can't we?"

"I bet I'll win this time," I said maliciously, cracking my knuckles.

Edward rose and eyebrow. "You think you'll actually beat me?" He asked sceptically.

"This time, I will!" I hollered, charging at Edward for the second time. "Let's get this par-tay started!" Unfortunately, Edward stepped out of the way, and pushed me to the ground before I could react, following through with a couple of powerful punches that would have instantly killed a human.

"I win," Edward said simply, placing his foot on the small of my back.

"Fu-"

"No bad cussing, remember? That was part of your grounding." Edward said firmly, stepping on my head so my cursing was muffled. "Told you I'd win. Never underestimate da Edward."

"You're such a piece of sh-… I mean, crap." I moaned.

"Oops! No video games for another to weeks, Emmett. _Crap _is a nasty word." Edward was doing this only to irritate me now. Even _he _said it occasionally.

"But…" I protested.

"No buts," Edward's shell just wouldn't crack. And he thought _Bella _was stubborn.

"Aw, nuts!" I whined. "Please?"

"I'll think about it." Edward stated, but judging from the evil grin on his face, he was probably going to make me play something _awful, _like Solitaire.

"You better," I cautioned, putting on my most intimidating voice.

"Guys! Time for school! I only just found out that the bell rings forty-seven seconds early today…" Alice glanced around the room, her voice faltering when she saw our mess, her expression changing from shock to anger in milliseconds.

"CLEAN IT UP!" She screeched, sounding like Miley Cyrus. "THAT ORIGINAL COST FORTY MILLION! FORTY!"

"Doesn't sound that expensive," I remarked lazily.

"Can you at least try to manage your impulsivity and _think _about it before you smash into the wall?" Alice squawked, bending down to pick up pieces of painting. "That one was Esme's favourite…" Alice sobbed tearlessly, rocking back and forth. "Unless anyone can paint like that…"

"Of course we can paint like that!" I yelled, not thinking. "We are bloody vampires, for god's sake!"

Edward narrowed his eyes, shooting me withering stares. Alice stood there with a blank face, trying her best not to laugh.

"Wait… we aren't newborns!" Alice finally broke the awkward silence. "Aren't we very clean vampires?"

No one laughed, me included. In fact, Edward appeared to be even angrier. "Alice…" He grumbled. "Emmett needs to learn not to cuss!"

"Oh. Sorry." Alice sounded a bit miffed, and stared intently at the floor.

"I think we'll make it a month, Emmett." Edward said sternly.

"You aren't my mom!" I bellowed, crossing my arms. "Humph."

"Well, you two better clean up," Alice threatened. "You don't want to get in to trouble with Esme, and yes, I _will _tell her, Emmett!" Alice looked immensely pleased with herself, and danced away to get her bag packed for school.

:

:

:

"Conditioning?" I stared at my schedule in disbelief. "I didn't even bring my P.E kit!" I complained, picking at my prop food. "Why do I always have to act slow in front of all these humans?" I whinged to Rosalie. "How did Bella get out of all this?"

"I've already told you." Rosalie said coldly. She had been in a particularly foul mood since she came back from Denali.

"Aw, come on, baby. Surely my Emmett strength is an exposure risk, too!" I nagged her for the umpteenth time.

"You'll be careful, Emmett."

I did my best impression of puppy-dog-eyes, earning a smack from Rosalie.

"Geez, Rosalie! Why are you so… _hostile _today?" I asked, irritated.

"The succubus sisters aren't exactly making me happy at the moment." Rosalie clarified icily.

"But not gym conditioning! That is beyond ridiculous! We all should be-"

"You are doing gym conditioning." Rosalie said flatly.

I sighed in defeat. Why did Rose have to make me do gym with all the humans, and let everyone else off? Even the Dog didn't have to do gym after Bella's little incident.

"Why am I the only one?" I grumbled. "Why does everyone else get let off?"

"I don't get let off," Rosalie pointed.

"Then-"

"Alright." Rosalie put her palm in the air. "Bella is let off because of the incident. Edward won't do gym if Bella doesn't. With me so far?"

I nodded.

"Jasper can't do gym because of his bad self-control, and just like Edward, Alice won't go without Jasper. Jacob can't go because if he accidentally phrases, we will have to move. Renesmee would go, except that she's got extension Maltese during her gym session, and there's no other free spaces."

"Fine." I pouted. "I'll go. I'm sick of being so slow, though."

:

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:

"Not the psycho, please!" A weedy student in my gym class was begging, medieval style, to Mrs Antony, the poor boy's English teacher.

"I'm sorry, Nate. He's the only person we have." Mrs Antony said boredly.

"But he's _mad_," Nate protested, his head in his hands. "You should see what he wears!" Nate said spitefully. "He looks like a clown, polka dot socks and all-"

"Enough." Said the teacher firmly. "You will not talk about substitute teachers in that way, ever."

Nate groaned and shuffled out of the classroom, moving slower than a sloth.

"Cullen." Mrs Antony moved studiously around the classroom, arranging and rearranging textbooks and maps. "How can I help you?"

I smiled to myself as my wagging-gym plan slipped into action. Thanks to the genius Alice, I was off Gym conditioning for the whole term. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation, trying to look nervous.

"I am so sorry, Mrs Antony, but I can't seem to find my 'comedy of errors' booklet, and I won't be able to hand it in tomorrow, or, ever." I said nervously, talking faster than I needed to.

Mrs Antony narrowed her eyes. "And why is that?" She asked suspiciously.

"Alice fed it to the dog," I said matter-of-factly.

"What actually happened, Mr Cullen?" Mrs Antony hadn't fallen for the pathetic lie.

Perfect.

"I burnt all her Versace, so she fed it to the dog. End of story." I said cheekily, smiling, just a touch.

"If I ask Alice, what would she say?" Antony questioned.

"Nothing. She'd be screaming at me!" I said, miming an angry Alice.

"We should call her here. I need her for some extra _validation._"

"Aw, come on. She's gonna scream!"

Antony looked really annoyed now. "ALICE CULLEN!" She boomed into the intercom. "COME TO P24, NOW!"

"Why did you have to do that?" I whined. "She's already angry enough as it is. If you rub it in, my life is gonna suck!"

Mrs Antony's face twisted into a thin smile. "Maybe you need to learn from-"

"EMMETT CULLEN!" Alice stormed into the room, face red as a- wait, no, pale as a ghost. "YOU BURNED THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS! DO YOU REALISE HOW MUCH MONEY THAT IS? HOW LUCKY WE WERE TO HAVE THOSE CLOTHES?" Alice paused to 'catch her breath', sparing me a small wink. "AND YOU BURNED THEM! YOU _BURNED _MY VERSACE! AND I SWEAR-"

"Alice," Mrs Antony growled. "I believe you interrupted a teacher,"

Alice crossed her arms, pouting. "My clothes are more important than _you_," She harrumphed.

The elderly English teacher's contorted face shifted to a scowl, and she flushed a deep beetrooty colour. "Excuse me, Cullen?"

"Everyone _despises _you," Alice scoffed. "Maybe my Versace are actually important."

I let a small smile escape my lips. This was working, and well.

Antony screwed her face up, a vein popping out on her forehead. "How _dare_ you speak to a teacher like that!" She roared, looking like she was about to jump out of our seat at us. "Such _language _is not tolerated at this school!"

"That's not language," I replied cheekily. "This is language-"

"I do _not _need examples, Mr Cullen," Mrs Antony said through clenched teeth. "Alice, you will be receiving detention for the rest of the year , for extremely rudely answering back to the teacher, interrupting the teacher in a rage, and obvious _ignorance _to the teacher." She handed Alice a thick wad of detention slips, which Alice stuffed carelessly into her school bag.

"Fine!" Alice spat, infuriated, wheeling out of the classroom. "It's all Emmett's fault!"

I could swear smoke was coming out of Mrs Antony's ears as she turned her hardened gaze in my direction. I heard a hiss, and after seeing Antony's papery greyish lips sealed shut, I realised it was my own. Antony's eyes then widened in fear, and as my eyes dropped to the floor, I saw that I had instinctively got into the crouch position, and was now snarling at the teacher.

"Get up, Emmett." Mrs Antony said in a frightened, hushed tone. "You are in big trouble."

"Am I in big trouble with the little girl?" I grinned from ear to ear.

Antony ignored my smart remark, even if she turned a horrible shade of crimson, I knew from Alice's vision that this would not be the source of my punishment.

"So, Emmett, do you have something to tell me? Like, a secret you've been keeping from me? A multiple personality disorder, perhaps? You were always such a perfect child, until…"

"Nope, this has always been me. A big, goofy, troublemaker of a vam- um… person." I looked at her sheepishly, half expecting my cheeks to turn a rosy red.

"A vam?" Antony asked sceptically. "What's a vam?"

"A mythical, bloodsucking creature in some stupid RPG that I'm addicted to." I lied quickly. "I like to parade around the house, pretending I'm a vampire. It gets on Jasper's nerves, believe me!" I smirked. "It involves snarling and pouncing, too."

"Child shouldn't let computer games influence his life," Mrs Antony muttered in a quiet voice probably not intended for my ears. "Anyway!" She cleared her throat, straightening her back and placing her hands in her lap. "Punishments for the goofy troublemaker."

"I thought we would get to this part." I groaned.

"Now, are you the type to enjoy gym class?" Antony asked, almost rhetorically.

I started to recite the incessant babble Alice insisted 'would guarantee my ban'. I blabbered about my sporting achievements, life on the track, football trophies, weightlifting ribbons and touring the world for my various competitions. All of these motivated Antony to ban my gym conditioning sessions even more, and when the punishing words finally escaped my lips, I was so excited, I almost forgot to put up a fight.

"The whole year? Come on, I can't live with that!" I complained, trying to act incredulous. "Gym is my life! Please…"

"Then maybe you will learn your lesson," Antony looked incredibly proud of herself for enforcing the ban. I was supposed to act sulky, but I was finding it hard to hide my excitement, too. "A note will go home to your parents today, informing them of your misbehaviour." She said icily. "Your sports uniform will no longer be required, and you will not be attending any sport-related field trips for the rest of the year. Do you understand, Emmett? You have shown the school a fine example of your bad behaviour."

"Yes, Mrs Antony." I replied solemnly, staring at my feet. "I'll _try _not to do it again," I added cheekily.

:

:

:

"It worked?" Alice's face lit up, and she smiled mischievously. "Excellent. I'm still surprised you didn't want to participate."

"Me? Act slow and weak in front of humans?" I scoffed, cracking my knuckles. "Never. I can't wait to do some real sport."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Really? "Edward would never let you, with your punishment and all." Alice flashed a small, malicious smile. "You may have to divert your attention from wrestling in order to play a certain electronic game,"

I groaned. "Is he going to make me play solitaires, after all?"

"You'll be _wishing _for solitaires, after a dose of this game." Alice chimed.

"What's worse than solitaires?" I asked, curious to see what Edward thought was worse than the dreadful computerised card game.

"It involves a bird, a 4- digit number, some gaps, and lots of head-whacking," Alice explained.

"Sounds fun!" I holler, probably louder than necessary. "Do I get to eat the bird?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "If eating and IPhone is compatible with your body, tell Carlisle, because I'm sure he'll want to know. And, besides, it might be fun for a human, but for a vampire with very good fine motor, it can be _very _repetitive."

"Can't be worse than school."

"Might be about the same."

"Well, we'll see, wont we?" I said, licking my lips unnecessarily. "Can't you tell me?"

"That would ruin the surprise aspect of the game."

"If you don't tell me, I might just burn your Versace." I threatened.

"Don't!" Alice said out of impulsivity, slamming down the accelerator pedal of her Porsche, lurching the car forward and almost into a red light.

"So, will you tell me?" I probed.

"Alright." Alice sighed. "The game… is called Flappy Bird."


End file.
